When an employer negligently supervises an employee who commits
separate acts of sexual harassment against three different
co-workers on separate occasions, how many "occurrences"
are there under a standard commercial general liability policy? The
Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, considered this
question in
Scott Fetzer Co. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., No. 16 CV
1570 (N.D. Ohio Dec. 18, 2017), and concluded that the answer is
three.
Three Times the Harassment
In 2015, three women filed suit against the policyholder, the
Scott Fetzer Company ("Fetzer") in Missouri state court
alleging they were subjected to sexual harassment and assault by a
male co-worker, John Field ("Field"), while working for
Fetzer as door-to-door vacuum salespersons. The three plaintiffs in
the Missouri case alleged that their injuries were the direct and
proximate result of conduct by Fetzer. Their first claim, for
fraudulent misrepresentation, alleged that Fetzer was
